LGBT activists criticize Obama after SOTU

Jan. 29, 2014
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President Obama, left, is introduced by singer Ricky Martin, right, at a fundraiser hosted by Martin and the LGBT Leadership Council at the Rubin Museum of Art, Monday, May 14, 2012, in New York. / Pablo Martinez Monsivais AP

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - President Obama is taking flak from some LGBT advocates for failing to address stalled legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation by federal contractors.

Activists have been pressing Obama to use executive authority to implement the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and had high hopes that the president would use Tuesday night's State of the Union Address to announce that he was taking action.

ENDA, which would provide federal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, passed the Senate last year, but has been bogged down in the GOP-controlled House.

Obama has long supported ENDA. The White House noted in a memo sent to reporters ahead of the address that passing ENDA was an issue that Obama remained committed to pressing with Congress in 2014.

The president, however, made no mention of ENDA in his address.

Obama "sidestepped his commitment to take action where Congress has left off, " said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington. "Unfortunately, President Obama missed a real opportunity to use the State of the Union to improve the lives of LGBT people by taking immediate executive action to address anti-LGBT discrimination for the millions of Americans employed by federal contractors. "

Heather Cronk, co-director of the social advocacy group GetEQUAL, said she was "disappointed, saddened and offended" by the omission.

"As the CEO of the largest workforce in the country -- the federal government -- it is incumbent upon President Obama to ensure that all Americans are able to benefit from his executive action; the refusal to do so would mean that the president is actively choosing to permit discrimination against LGBT workers," Cronk said.

Asked by a reporter travelling with Obama on Air Force One on Wednesday why the president didn't take executive action to address the issue, White House press secretary Jay Carney responded by noting Obama's support of the stalled legislation.

"I think his position on LGBT rights is crystal clear," Carney said.

Obama, who won praise from the LGBT community after he expressed support for same-sex marriage in 2012, briefly mentioned "marriage equality" in his address and proffered that the nation believes "in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation."

He followed that line with a veiled reference to his past public criticism of Russia, which has faced international criticism for a law that prohibits the promotion of gay relationships to minors and another that bans adoptions by countries allowing same-sex marriages.

"Next week, the world will see one expression of that commitment â?? when Team USA marches the red, white and blue into the Olympic Stadium â?? and brings home the gold," Obama said.